answered on Dec 6, 2022
Most likely it is just an error by the registry unless there has been a recent filing. You could contact the registry for the county where the divorce occurred and ask them to close it, but probably not worth the effort as there is no consequence to the "active" designation if there is no... Read more »
My daughter is going to a boarding school this year. My ex wife and I have split the cost for this. I have a son who lives with my ex wife. Is my weekly payment effected by my daughter now not living with my ex wife?
answered on Dec 5, 2022
Unfortunately for you, probably not. If your daughter returns to your ex-wife's home for school breaks, that would still likely be considered her primary residence. You could always agree with your ex-wife to reduce the child support payment based on your daughter going to boarding school, but... Read more »
My court hearing for child support was 27 days ago yet I still haven’t received the judgement in the mail, neither have the courts or DOR.
answered on Nov 22, 2022
It depends on the type of hearing. If it was a divorce trial where child support was just one of many issues, it would take a few (or more) months. If it was a hearing where DOR was seeking support on the other parent's behalf, it should be much quicker. It also depends on the county you are... Read more »
We have been married for 15 years without kids. We tried IVF several times, but it did not work. Now my wife wants to go for adoption, but I am not interested. She is even willing to do it as a single mother. And I am opposed to it primarily because, we don’t know how things will turn out after... Read more »
answered on Oct 11, 2022
I am actually not sure whether your wife could adopt a child solely while you are married, but another lawyer with expertise in adoption may be able to answer that.
Regarding an agreement to waive child support, however, that is definitely not possible. The courts view child support as... Read more »
How is the actual duration of marriage duration calculated?
answered on Sep 21, 2022
Unfortunately, it depends. For purposes of alimony, the duration of marriage is calculated as the date of marriage through the date of service of the Complaint for Divorce. So, if your ex-spouse filed on March 19, 2021, it would be whatever date after that you were actually served with the divorce... Read more »
Can I modify child custody and support if I went from 5 overnights to 7 overnights plus taking them till 7 at night 4 other nights? And have my kids all day on Sunday while my ex is at work. Yea he only days. Don’t see them are tuesdays and every other Saturday, other then that they are with m... Read more »
answered on May 17, 2022
It sounds like you have a good argument for modification. If you think your ex will retaliate, just be sure you really want to kick the hornet's nest. If your kids are doing well with the current arrangement, it may be worth it to suck it up even though you feel she is taking advantage of you.... Read more »
Husband left to PR and hasn't given any support to our son, since he left in 2020.
We are living w/some family and can use the help. How long does it take to file for child support? Thank you
answered on May 7, 2022
You would either need to file for divorce or file a Complaint for Separate Support if you do not want to file for divorce.
With either of those, you can file a motion for temporary orders, which would include child support and anything else you would want a judge to address on a temporary... Read more »
He said he’s going to stop paying for 21 year old who is going in to her 5th year of full time college. She still resides with us and we pay a 99% of her expenses. He said he’s going to cut child support in half because the have two children. He said he went to lawyer and because he has two new... Read more »
answered on Mar 2, 2022
The ex-husband can't unilaterally make changes to child support, no matter the reason. It can only be done via a court order. That court order could be the result of a written agreement by the parties to make changes or from a judge after a hearing, but the ex would be in contempt if he just... Read more »
Seeking retroactive child support back to the date the kids and I moved out. (4-5 years ago). We were never married and he is the father- on the birth certificate of both children.
This is a new child support request. We previously had a verbal agreement for weekly payments that he has not... Read more »
answered on Jan 11, 2022
Usually, a retroactive order can only go back as far as the date the opposing party was served with the complaint for child support. If there has never been an order previously, you may have the ability to argue for retroactive support back to the child's date of birth, but it would depend if... Read more »
He has supervised visitation at his mother house and his mother is supposed to supervise him on all three days that he has. I texted his mother to confirm to see he was at the home for his visitation but she never text me back i got worried and i check on my daughter ipad location and she wasn’t... Read more »
answered on Jan 9, 2022
You should have the police do a wellness check at the grandmother's home and they would document that the child wasn't there. And/or you could also have them do a wellness check at the girlfriend's house to confirm the child is there and who is present. You should also take... Read more »
My child’s father has not been in their life for over 6years. During that time I have had them full time with no help from him in any way. He does not pay any child support. He does call about once a month. Recently he has been asking for their information everything from school/medical records... Read more »
answered on Jan 9, 2022
I would just add that if you do return to court, you should ask for child support to be ordered. Even if there is no realistic hope of him ever paying, it may be enough of a deterrent to keep him at a distance. There is no connection between custody and child support, so even if he is ordered to... Read more »
My child support was modified to increase and I never received a court hearing notice nor has my income changed.
answered on Sep 3, 2021
You should first contact the Department of Revenue Child Support Enforcement Division and have them review your account. Sometimes if there is an arrears balance the amount changes. If you have no arrears, it is possible that the timing of the payments got off track somewhere and they needed to... Read more »
answered on Jun 7, 2021
If you haven't heard anything from the court yet, I would recommend contacting the Register's office and trying to find out if there is a reason it hasn't been processed.
If you have already served the other party, make sure you have returned the summons to the court and... Read more »
He filed bankruptcy so he won't have to pay arrears ($15k+) for like 7yrs. A condition of that is he is required to make each weekly payment($100 -ordered when child was 3 and he's 12 with not one cost of living increase), without fail. Several weeks back, I received an amount over the... Read more »
answered on May 7, 2021
You should contact MA DOR - Child Support Enforcement Division to confirm, but your ongoing payments should not be impacted by any overpayments if there is an arrears balance. Any overpayment should be applied to the oldest outstanding payment. It is possible he received a tax return that was... Read more »
My daughter is four. Her dad hasn’t paid anything since she was maybe one. Barely sees her. Maybe once a month; some months, never. I’ve never done this before so I don’t know what to do next other than wait. He received something in the mail & did nothing. I still haven’t heard... Read more »
answered on May 3, 2021
If there was a prior order for child support that the dad isn't following, you could file a Complaint for Contempt. If there was no prior order, you would need to file a Complaint to Establish Paternity or a Complaint for Custody Support and Parenting Time.
You can contact the... Read more »
He never wanted the baby, then i got married and my husband recognized my son as his own, so legally my husband is my son's dad.
answered on Apr 2, 2021
If by legally you mean that your husband adopted your son and your husband's name is on the birth certificate, I don't think the biological father can do anything because he would have been notified about the adoption. If your husband isn't on the birth certificate then the... Read more »
My son is 19 and will be finishing school soon. Child support was started in Florida in 2012 but due there being a paternity file that was started in Massachusetts on 12/2002 the amount of support i pay is based on Massachusetts calculations. So I am not sure if I will need to be going to... Read more »
answered on Apr 1, 2021
That is a tough one without looking at the actual order. I would recommend talking to an attorney in Florida if there is an order out of Florida that your child support is based on. It could be that it is enforcing a Massachusetts order, but I think Florida is the right place to start.
Paternal g.parents have temp. Guardianship. They accused me of drug abuse for the first time out of 3 or 4 previous hearings. I have never been in trouble or in treatment for drug abuse. The court ordered hair follicle testing. G. Parents have zero proof. My ex claimed on the day of the assault I... Read more »
answered on Mar 28, 2021
If you have no history of drug abuse you should just take the hair follicle and then you eliminate that as an issue that can be used in your case. If you are trying to avoid the hair follicle because of what it will show, then there isn't really much you can do if it was already ordered. If... Read more »
Is there a way i can do this or get visits quick and not have to get a lawyer? Or a lawyer is necessary
answered on Mar 1, 2021
There is nothing in Probate and Family Court that you absolutely need an attorney for, many people represent themselves. In your situation, you may want to speak with an attorney or even DCF (depending on why there are no visits currently) to understand what you can do to get you closer to having... Read more »
A week has past since the contempt hearing where the judge verbally told him to provide this info to me.
answered on Feb 10, 2021
In my experience, judges don't have a lot of patience for things that aren't a good use of their time, like having a hearing that doesn't accomplish anything because one party hasn't provided info they were supposed to provide. Judges have a lot of discretion in how they handle... Read more »
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